New Phone System recommendations

[john]

Can anyone tell me the difference between a Samsung system and a LG system? We have a few companies who are either quoting for a samsung system or a LG system but i cannot find any information that compares the 2 so was wondering if anyone on here could help.

 

Thanks

 

Can you compare me an Granny Smith with a Braeburn as that is what you are basically asking

 

Both are PBX's, probably do the same thing and features just a different vendor.... one may have a slight different colour / layout (in apples colour for example). Buy wisely as it will need to last 20 year so ask questions around firmwares and software upgrades as most exclude them and often its throw it away and start again to get new firmware so they have a high chance of built in obsolescence, I know @robk did a new PBX the other year so he may have some ideas on questions to ask them

[cpjitservices]

3cx - http://www.3cx.com Edited December 22, 2015 by cpjitservices

[robk]

Worth putting together a list of key features you need and using that to compare against. Otherwise you can get very carried away with features that you will not use. I think the LG system that someone quoted us was nearly 30k. Our final system was half that.

[karldenton]

We pay roughly £700 a month for 49 phones over 8 sites (2 have dedicated broadband). That includes reception console, 1 softphone, several premium licenses (ring phone as well as desk phone etc), auto attendant changes for holidays, voicemail etc etc.

[CAWJames]

We bought 4 second hand dl380 servers, installed the FreePBX distro on them, ordered 4 SIP trunks, endpoints and DDI ranges from our leased line provider, and then found a source of Cisco 7941 phones for circa £15 each. I reckon my outlay has been a few grand in hardware and my time, to get a fully integrated phone system over 4 sites, with each system being resilient if a site for some reason goes down. Really not hard to get a head around, even have our logo on the Cisco phones!

 

We also pass in our old ISDN30 into one of them, BT were quite "surprised" when our bills suddenly dropped, as the system takes incoming on the ISDN but outgoing over SIP now just need to wait until the ISDN is out of contract, and then we will convert the number to SIP.

 

As long as you know a little linux and some basic networking technologies(TFTP,VLANS, etc), it works really well.

[DrCheese]

Who are you guys using for your SIP providers & can you get by with a standard dedicated ASDL connection?

@dgsmith Did you install & configure it all yourselves or get a reseller to do so? If so, what did they charge?

 

Thanks (You can tell I'm looking at this again now I've been told our budget!)

Edited February 8, 2016 by DrCheese

[dgsmith]

Who are you guys using for your SIP providers & can you get by with a standard dedicated ASDL connection?

@dgsmith Did you install & configure it all yourselves or get a reseller to do so? If so, what did they charge?

 

Thanks (You can tell I'm looking at this again now I've been told our budget!)

 

SIP provider is spitfire networks (fully approved with 3cx, most competitive per-call cost); I do check now and then the competition to ensure best value is still achieved, but spitfire have always come out favourably on the SIP trunks + calls (except BT, who were cheaper, but wanted to be our ISP too which isn't feasible).

 

Regarding the system.. I had already installed 3cx on a test server with some 2nd hand yealink phones and used this for about 2 months before the production/actual rollout. This meant the system was already familiar with (to a degree) and config could be set up way in advance, tested and then implemented once any niggles were known about. Obviously other things crop up when the main rollout takes place, but all manageable and the fact you can get 3cx totally free (albeit 2 concurrent calls) means you can get completely familiar before you even need to consider it as a system.

 

Whilst this project was the most cost effective, even if we had been given a larger budget it still may well have been the system of choice.. it wasn't just because it came in at the price it did.. it also happens to be a very good system.

[CAWJames]

We use Gamma trunks over an FreePBX/Asterisk system. Just in the process of having our ISDN30 DDI's ported over. Such an easy way to do things! We looked at 3CX but the free version was too restrictive, and we find Asterisk/FreePBX is a great solution. Old DL360 G5 server and a download later, and we have been running SIP for over 2 years now, currently around 100 extensions.

[twin--turbo]

My home system is a little Zycoo box running a stripped down asterisk.

 

It has two SIP lines to sipgate and an analouge line.

 

I use re-cycled Mitel 5220 dual mode phones, and zoiper on mobiles.

 

TT

[Willott]

We use PBXinaflash (which is asterisk/freepbx with some other tools), using Gradwell for our IAX2 trunks (they do SIP trunks and are usually quite competitive). Running as a VM with loads of extensions. We have Yealink phones and use the paid for endpoint manager to configure these, makes the whole process quick and easy

[cpjitservices]

3CX here.. Run the free versions in one or two places, full system here. Very Robust

 

We use Yealink handsets

[timbo343]

Question from a N00b telephone guy, how easy is it to set up these free phone systems?

[twin--turbo]

Not too tricky, some basic networking and then a little bit of tinkering.

 

You will want something like incrediblePBX which has a good GUI.

 

Big thing is finding good compatible phones, I found the Mitel 5220 Dual Mode easy to get working.

 

TT

[timbo343]

Dont suppose anyone has a getting started or installation guide do they with all the things thats are needed?

[twin--turbo]

www.incrediblepbx.com

 

or 3CX site for that.

 

You will need a VM/PC and a couple of phones.

 

If your using a SIP service then you should be good but if you want physical lines you will either have to purchase PCI cards or use a voice router.

 

Start by doing some internal stuff before looking at the LINES..

 

TT

Edited February 9, 2016 by twin--turbo

[asc]

If you're just getting started with Asterisk, I highly recommend this series of Youtube vids. I used these to teach myself FreePBX and now a very comprehensive system with lots of the bells and whistles (forward to mobile, time conditions etc).

The guy who made them is currently in the process of updating them actually so you'll be getting good up to date information.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1fn6oC5ndU-a3GjSPsBo6rIP9kXOxI0k

 

I use Aastra 480i handsets on my system. They integrate with FreePBX really well actually - visual voicemail & intercom buttons even work as they should!

 

(Oh and I'm using sipgate.co.uk for SIP trunking into my system. There are guides online detailing how to setup a trunk from Sipgate in FreePBX)

Edited February 9, 2016 by asc